• Welcome to The Tolkien Forum! Connect with fellow Tolkien enthusiasts and join a community that is over two decades old, and still going strong. We look forward to meeting you.  Register

What are you watching?
Well there's a free restored version of Lawrence of Arabia on Youtube. It's long of course but I watched it over two nights as it has an actual intermission - which reminded me of ice cream tubs with little wooden spatulas and Kia-Ora with plastic straws, and single big screens in local towns.

There are some films which were made for single big screens - and this is the ultimate big screen film. And, knowing the story it is the visual moments that stand out - the two sunrises where you see the sun appear on the straight uninterrupted horizon, the small number of camels going to Aqaba seen from high ground behind, the famous appearance of Omar Sharif and many more. I'd forgotten that Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif don't appear in the list of stars - they are up and coming young actors being introduced - "with" Omar Sharif and "introducing" Peter O'Toole. Some introduction.

"he is nothing, the well is everything"
"no prisoners"

Not for the squeamish!

No speaking role for any woman but is that to be expected given the subject?

 
It's a great film, though I still think they should have made a sequel: 'Clarence Of Batavia'.
 
Deimos said:
You will enjoy the series ... it really was well done.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Some of the later episodes suffer just a little due to his illness, driven by his depression... but he's still the best of the SH portrayals for me.
And it's one set of shows where there is no real suffering or loss at the change in actor for Watson. Both do well consistently.

The book "Bending the Willow" about Brett is somewhat worth reading too. It kind of adds to his performance, as once we understand his struggles, we admire his ability to overcome them and leave them behind in his acting. (Until the end, when it actually impacted him physically, and some things depart substantially from the stories to accommodate his physical (and mental) inability to perform by then.)

There was, at one point, some small movement to give him the Knighthood for his rendering of Holmes.
 
Last edited:
On a related subject, one of the broadcast subchannels has started running the old "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" series from the beginning. Many have pointed out how much Goren's character seemed to be influenced by Holmes: his wide-ranging knowledge, close examination of mintute detail, and of course his personal eccentricities. They even have him defeated by "The Woman", who slips through his fingers.

Hard to believe it's over two decades old.
 
Reactions: Ent
Not watching currently, but over this last weekend I watched some 5 or 6 (or more) Chinese and Japanese produced "big snake" movies.
Some only English dubbed in text. Some dubbed in voice.
Oddly, there were similar themes. There were jungles. There were people. There were snakes. There were big snakes. There were 'good guys' and 'bad guys'. And the 'bad guys' always seemed to 'get what was coming to them' in the end.

Finally, all the dubbing... especially the text-only dubbing... was absolutely terrible.

It was a hoot. They were all a great watch..!!! Just what I needed after too much focus on too much of importance with too much intensity.
 
The Chinese snake legends go way back, so no surprise many films and TV shows have been made. Have you watched this one from 2012?

Looks pretty good to me!
 
Aethelwulf said:
Halfway through the 1961 version of El Cid, it's rather well done. I recommend it, if you enjoy 3 hour long films from 60 years ago.
Click to expand...
I might give it a go. After all, Lawrence of Arabia pretty much fits that description, and I liked it. I also recall reading a short story about El Cid in a picture book of legends when I was small. The idea of a dead man's body leading an army was very memorable.
 
Have you watched Ben Hur? It's in the same sort of category: 60+ years old, and 4 hours long. I enjoyed it as well.
 
The Ten Commandments is in the same arena as well. Good watch. One foible is enjoying the smoke trail left by the jet plane flying over, caught in the filming in one scene.
Performances were, by and large quite good in my opinion.
In these kinds of films too, I always enjoy absorbing the effort put into the costuming by the designers.

With Ben Hur, a false rumor one of the stuntmen died in early filming of the chariot race on location at Circus Maximus in Rome, and the scene was left in, continues to circulate.

No published account of it exists, and Charlton Heston specifically states no one was seriously hurt during filming in his autobiography.
Just FYI.
 
Ent said:
I always enjoy absorbing the effort put into the costuming by the designers.
Click to expand...
Yes, I appreciate the bright colours in particular. I like making artwork with vibrant colours myself, even for 'serious' subjects. I don't think it detracts from the seriousness.
 
Ent said:
No published account of it exists, and Charlton Heston specifically states no one was seriously hurt during filming in his autobiography.
Just FYI.
Click to expand...
p.s. while the rumor is false about a stuntman dying in the 1959 filming for the Heston movie, an earlier version around 1925 did see a stuntman death, and the deaths of many horses.

Interesting, clarifying information here:

Did a Stuntman Die in 'Ben-Hur'?

False rumor holds that a stuntman was killed during the filming of the chariot race scene in the 1959 version of 'Ben-Hur' and that his death was left in the final cut.
www.snopes.com

All provided just because 'facts' are better than 'rumors'. (Unless you're in the movie making industry and wanting to invent and produce a spectacle instead of an epic, or generate drama to merchandise your wares. Not that I'm mentioning any specific ones here, of course. 😅)
 
I had this particular "ware":


I was amused by all the griping brought on by the 2016 version: "why does Hollywood feel they need to remake the original classic? More proof they've run out of ideas!". Etc.

By that line of argument, Hollywood had "run out of ideas" by 1959. Or 1925, as that was also a remake. This, I believe, is the "original":

Here's a clip of the chariot race from the 1925 version:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Similar threads

"The Fly" 1986 horror movie. Did watching it change your life?
2
Replies
20
Views
3K
Deimos
Songs that reference other songs
Replies
6
Views
566
Starbrow
I built an interactive map of Middle-Earth, hope you like it!
Replies
7
Views
736
BlueJay of Mordor
B
M
Master's thesis questionnaire on the 🧝Elvish language -
Replies
0
Views
655
MikaelaTriono
M
Mor(e) of Morgoth
Replies
0
Views
669
Backyard Professor
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…